Pump will not prime

[duraleigh]

I think the line from the offending skimmer is blocked. Can you get a snake into it from the pump?

If not, stick a water hose down into the pump basket and then down into the line that goes to the skimmers....push it in as far as you can. Pack wet rags all around the hose where it goes into that pipe, getting the best "seal" that you can and then turn on the water in the hose.

Hopefully that backward flow will dislodge any obstruction.

Since you only have one line going into the pump, where do the two skimmer lines come together? If the blocked skimmer line is furthest from the pump, this likely will not work. What is the psi of the pump in the "filter" position?

 

[thedingo13]

Hi Dave - Regarding the line being blocked - not disagreeing, because I have no idea how any of this really works. However, I do have a question as to how a blockage would cause the skimmer to drain faster. I intuitively would think a blockage would actually SLOW the pull of water, but I am likely inaccurate in my thinking on this. Just trying to gain a greater understanding of this.

 

[duraleigh]

Sorry, I completely misspoke. But first tell me how those skimmer lines get to your pump so I don't screw you up again.

 

[thedingo13]

Ha - no worries, and I appreciate all of your help on a holiday weekend!

So - I had posted those pictures earlier in the thread of my setup, but they are not labeled. Essentially, what I know for certain is that skimmer lines join somewhere underground, and they come up as one line into a union, then an elbow, another union, and into the pump.

My thinking on this (which assumes I know something, and I'm pretty sure I do not know a thing), is that the line for the one return must be significantly shorter than the line for the other. When the pump pulls, it yanks the water out of the one, and pulls normally out of the other. I think a diverter valve may slow the water flow, but currently I have just closed the the near skimmer, and all runs fine.

I do wonder whether or not I may have a partial clog in the far return, causing it to be harder to pull water from, which then causes the pump to pull more from the near return. Either that, or the fact that the old pump was only 1HP prevented this from happening. The new pump is 1.5HP.

Regarding the floating diverter valve, are there special types for different skimmers?

 

[thedingo13]

And then, the big question I had was whether or not adding DE and putting the system in filter mode might slow the flow enough so I can reopen that skimmer back up (obviously this is dependent on a number of variables, but was just trying to figure out how much power I add to the system by bypassing the filter entirely).

 

[duraleigh]

Do you think the furthest skimmer (the one that is operating OK) first goes into the closest skimmer?

If so, there would be only one unplugged hole in the bottom of the furthest skimmer but there would be two unplugged holes in the bottom of the closest skimmer. Check that out.

Do both skimmers have weir doors (flappers) on the skimmer mouth?

 

[thedingo13]

They both have weir doors. It is difficult to say whether or not there are one or two unplugged holes, because I can't even see that far down with the current water clarity.

 

[thedingo13]

If I recall, from last time I could see clearly into the bottom of the skimmer, there were what appeared to be two small holes in each. I can say that, when I plugged one hole in the near skimmer, the far skimmer continued to operate, while the near skimmer stopped entirely. I would think that, if the far one fed the near one, which then fed the pump, blocking the one opening would stop the whole system.

 

[duraleigh]

Dingo,

Check your Private Messages in the top left center of your screen.

 

[thedingo13]

Dave - I appreciate all your help in walking me through to the solution. Ultimately, the problem ended up being a stuck weir door on the near skimmer, which was starving the skimmer of water (resulting in the pump sucking air). After leaning over the side of the pool I was able to jam my hand in and free the door. Now I am working on two, full functioning skimmers. I loaded AquaPearl (my gf is "environmentally friendly"), and we started with a pressure of approximately 17psi. After about 1.5 hours of run time, I am up approximately 5psi. Looks pretty good so far. My first backwash should be coming up soon. Now the question is actually getting it from ugly green to blue. I understand DE filters make that process "fun".

Thanks for all your help Dave! I really appreciate you taking the time out of your holiday weekend to help me out.

 

[weird_tolkienish_f]

Screw the Eco Crud, get some chlorine in there pronto.

Or let your gf handle the pool.

 

[thedingo13]

Oh - chlorine is in, believe me. The AquaPearl is a DE replacement that is supposed to not give you cancer or something, at the expense of being less of a PITA.